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In early autumn of 1903, something bizarre and terrifying happened in the town of Van Meter, Iowa. People have been talking about it ever since. On the night of September 29th a farm implement salesman named U.G. Griffith was returning late from his rounds when he saw something odd. It…
Read moreThere are innovations that, when we first experience them, are so striking, so clearly a terrific idea, that we cannot conceive of their ever fading away. For anyone born before the year 2000, the indoor shopping mall was one of those things. Repositories of consumer culture and social engagement in…
Read moreEighty-nine-year-old Marjorie Congdon has been called both a sociopath and a psychopath. The terms are not interchangeable. Sociopaths have a conscience, but their moral compass is weak. Psychopaths are without a conscience. They are cold-hearted, deceitful, manipulative, and cruel. In addition, they are charming, charismatic and engaging. People are drawn…
Read moreFace it. There are some things you are not permitted to do. For example, you cannot perform surgery without a license. You cannot practice law without one either (but that’s all right, there are more than enough lawyers as it is). And you cannot jump off a diving board at…
Read moreWhen the squadron leader gave the signal, we hurried forward, crouching and firing, trying to get to an overturned cable spool where we could find cover. Or I should say they were firing, the other guys on my team. They were plugging away, spraying the field with ordinance, taking no…
Read moreClark Kent is resigning from the Daily Planet. Times have changed and Kent doesn’t appreciate the tabloid-like direction the paper is taking. He plans to become an independent journalist and blogger. Let me be the first to welcome him to the club. As earth shaking developments in the Superman saga…
Read moreThe years 1944-1960 saw the greatest expansion of the American economy we may ever know. They saw the end of Second World War, the dawn of the nuclear age, and the beginning of the Cold War. They were among the most challenging and rewarding years in American history, and they…
Read moreAt around 3:25pm on April 5, 2010 Rex Mullins and Nick McCroskey were working 1000 feet underground at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. Mullins, a 50 year old mining veteran, was working with McCroskey, a 26 year old graduate of Bluefield College, on the shearer of…
Read moreOn Jefferson Avenue near downtown Detroit there’s a restaurant called Dr. Dre’s Open Pit and Bait Shop whose name pretty much says it all. The City of Detroit is populated mostly by African Americans, 82% of the population is black. Of those, nearly half are between the ages of 25…
Read moreThere comes a time in a man’s life when he must prove himself on the field of battle. This was not exactly that time. However, it was a time to wear a furry cap with faux horns and make a snarling face like a barbarian and climb over a wall…
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